Chapter 1

After staying undercover for six months, Sylvia Reid finally succeeded! She lay bare on the hotel bed after a night of passion with her boss. Her body ached so intensely it felt as if it had been dismantled and put back together. Yet, she clenched her teeth and stayed perfectly still for 30 minutes. She was following the doctor's advice to raise her chances of getting pregnant. Right then, the man was deep asleep, his desire satisfied. His steady breaths carried a hint of alcohol, and his long hand held her slender waist in a firm grip, as though he might wake the instant she stirred. However, Sylvia knew there was no way he'd wake up now. Her beloved boss was supposed to drink wine, but she had changed it to hard liquor instead. Otherwise, how else was she supposed to make him impregnate her? Grabbing her phone, Sylvia confirmed that it was her ovulation day before slipping out of his arms. Then, she gathered her scattered clothes and fled the scene. Once she entered the elevator, she immediately made a call. Setting aside her sense of shame, Sylvia urgently said, "I've had sex with him. Can you transfer the deposit to me now?" She needed money for her younger brother's surgery and had no choice but to offer herself to the only son of the Kaplan family, who was averse to marriage. She had promised to bear his child in exchange for ten million dollars. "Of course! But according to the contract, you must make sure you are pregnant with my son's child. I'll run a DNA test, so don't try anything funny. You know exactly how steep the penalty fee is, right?" Without hesitation, Sylvia answered, "I'm sure of it." The man's surname was Kaplan, and he was the CEO of Kaplan Group. He was young and also had great stamina, but most importantly, the Kaplan family in Portsham only had one son. If the man she had sex with wasn't him, it couldn't be his father, right? Sylvia thought she'd be a fool if she couldn't differentiate between son and father. "That's good." After the call ended, the Kaplan family directly transferred the money to her bank account. Sylvia was about to heave a sigh of relief when she suddenly felt her dress slide down. One of the thin straps had snapped! Clearly, the man had yanked her dress off too hard, leaving only the tiniest thread holding it together. Fortunately, Sylvia reacted swiftly enough, clutching the garment before her chest tightly. Unfortunately, the crisscross straps at her back had loosened as well, exposing her skin and gorgeous shoulders for all to see. To make things worse, the elevator stopped at the fifth floor when it was supposed to go straight to the first floor. The doors slid open, and a man stepped in. Instantly, a thought flashed through Sylvia's mind—what goes around comes around. "Do you need any help?" the young man's voice rang above Sylvia's head. Sensing her embarrassment, he remained where he was, lingering at the elevator entrance with gentlemanly restraint. "I…" "You can borrow this." His voice was clear, and Sylvia could tell he had no intention of offending or flirting with her. Then, at the next second, an oversized black suit jacket was draped over her shoulders. Sylvia bit her bottom lip hard. "Thank you." "I have a private lounge on the fifth floor. You can head there to straighten your clothes." Sylvia had no other choice. She could only give a grateful nod. "Okay!" After fastening her dress and putting it on, she walked out and finally got a clear look at her savior. He was wearing a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up slightly, revealing his slender wrists. With a prominent brow bone and a gentle smile, he gave off an approachable air despite looking like a refined gentleman. "I saw the elevator coming down from the 19th floor. That's my Uncle Arnaud's private floor, so you must be his secretary, right?" Upon hearing that, Sylvia instinctively nodded. "Yes, I'm Mr. Kaplan's secretary." "It isn't easy to be Uncle Arnaud's secretary. He's just too standoffish." "Yes, Mr. Kaplan is indeed…" Wait, Uncle Arnaud? Sylvia suddenly snapped to her senses, her amber eyes turning wide. "Wait, isn't Mr. Kaplan the only son of the Kaplan family? When did he have a nephew?" The young man flashed a helpless smile. "If I'm not mistaken, the Kaplan family's only son you're referring to is me. "I'm Tyler Kaplan. Your CEO, Arnaud Kaplan, is my younger uncle. He's only three years older than me." Sylvia had no idea how she'd even walked out of the hotel. Just then, she heard her phone ring. It was a call from her best friend, Margot Cellier. "Sylv, congrats! You did it! Do you need my help?" "Yes." "What is it?" "Help me buy a box of morning-after pills." Reality left no time for Sylvia. After she ended the call with Margot, her younger brother's doctor came urging her. "Gregory's transplant can't be delayed any further. Conservative treatment no longer works. Has the bone marrow donor agreed to donate yet?" "Yes, I'll contact him now!" If it were just a transplant surgery, Sylvia wouldn't have needed to sacrifice herself. However, after the bone marrow typing, she discovered she wasn't Gregory's match, but her cousin, Oliver Smith, was! Naturally, her aunt, Willa Ulrich, was unwilling for her son to donate. However, not wanting to look cruel and heartless, she demanded eight million dollars in return. She claimed the donor surgery would definitely impact her son's health, so the money was a form of security. Even if her son couldn't work in the future, he would still lead a worry-free life. Willa was sure Sylvia couldn't even fork out one million dollars, so when five million dollars showed up in her bank account, she was dumbfounded. "D-Did you get the money from illegal sources?" "Don't worry about that. You won't be dragged into it anyway. "Tell Oliver to head to the hospital now and cooperate with the doctor at the hospital for the donation. I'll transfer the remaining three million dollars to you after the surgery!" After a brief hesitation, Willa replied, "Sure, but let me make it clear—once I get the money and my son donates his bone marrow, I won't return the money to you no matter what!" "Of course." With that, the call ended. Lowering her gaze, Sylvia stared at the contract she'd signed with the Kaplan family, then at her empty bank account. She only had two options now. One was to pay the astronomical penalty fee. Without the money, the Kaplan family could sue her for fraud and send her to prison. That would leave the severely ill Gregory unattended in the hospital. The other choice was to continue to fulfil her promise to the Kaplan family by changing her target and making Tyler Kaplan impregnate her. Plus, she would have to do it under Arnaud's watchful eyes. Fortunately, Arnaud was an indifferent man. After six months as his secretary, no matter how hard Sylvia had tried to seduce him, he'd remained a gentleman and never overstepped any boundaries. If it weren't for the urgent circumstances forcing her to take drastic actions, this incident wouldn't have happened at all! It was clear Arnaud didn't have any feelings for her. Thus, she figured he wouldn't mind if she used the same tactics on his nephew again, right? …… Not long after Sylvia left, Arnaud woke up. The hangover gave him a headache, causing him to furrow his brows. Then, he opened his eyes and saw a complete mess around him. Just then, fragments of memories began to piece together in his mind. The woman had pressed her hands against his chest, her eyes red as she softly pleaded, "I can't anymore…" Her firm grip around his waist had made him lose confidence as she'd insisted, "Don't go. I want you!" The more Arnaud thought about it, the darker his expression got. In the end, with a scowl, he grabbed his bathrobe and put it on. However, just as he was about to get out of bed, a streak of red on the pristine white bedsheet caught his eye. Right then, someone knocked on the door of the hotel room. Arnaud looked away, got up, and walked to the door. His towering figure stood in the doorway, blocking the mess in the room. "Uncle Arnaud, I knew you'd be awake at this time." "Mm." Arnaud exuded a natural aloofness. The contrast was striking when he stood across from Tyler. "What is it?" "Oh, right!" Tyler didn't finish his sentence and stopped short as a shy, boyish glint appeared in his eyes. "I'm planning on working in Kaplan Group after coming back to the country, so I'm thinking of getting someone from you." Arnaud showed no flicker of emotion, his Adam's apple bobbing as he asked, "Who is it?" "Your secretary, Sylvia Reid."